A 12-person jury found today Wilson Bank & Trust knowingly acted recklessly and fraudulently and awarded a local builder/developer roughly $3.9 million in a forgery and fraud case.

After three weeks of testimony and three days of deliberations, jurors gave damages totaling $3.4 million to Ken Howell and his companies, Stones River Homes and Richmond's Retreat, in addition to $50,000 for his wife, Winifred Howell. It awarded another $358,000 in prejudgment interest.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, the jury awarded Howell, his wife and companies a total of about $1.3 million. The jury found that Howell did not owe the bank anything.

Howell filed suit against the bank contending forgery and fraud by former Murfreesboro branch president Stan Hayes caused his companies to fail.

The bank's attorney did not defend the actions of Hayes. Rather, he argued that the bank's directors were not aware of Hayes' actions and that it was not responsible for the failure of Howell's companies.

The jury recessed for the day and was expected to come back Thursday at 1 p.m. to deliberate on a request for $15 million in punitive damages.